Following the drone attack, one of Russia’s largest oil refineries, NORSI, has halted operations
The Russian oil refinery NORSI, which is the fourth-largest refinery in Russia and the second-largest in terms of petrol production, has suspended operations following a drone attack, according to Reuters.
According to industry sources, the strike damaged the CDU-5 crude oil primary processing unit. Its capacity is 12,000 metric tonnes per day, which is equivalent to approximately a quarter of the plant’s total production capacity.
The refinery is located near the town of Kstovo in the Nizhny Novgorod region, approximately 450 kilometres east of Moscow.
Following the attack, the St Petersburg International Commodity and Raw Materials Exchange (SPIMEX) suspended sales of diesel and petrol from NORSI.
Gleb Nikitin, Governor of the Nizhny Novgorod Region, stated that an industrial facility had been damaged by falling debris from the drone. He also said that two people had been killed. He did not specify the name of the plant.
According to sources, the plant may attempt to resume operations in the near future using other production facilities.
NORSI is owned by Lukoil. The company has not commented on the situation.
The plant processes around 15 million tonnes of crude oil annually. It produces approximately 5 million tonnes of petrol, over 5 million tonnes of diesel fuel, 2 million tonnes of fuel oil and around 500,000 tonnes of bitumen.
